Chapter 1823: First Avenue

As Rui belatedly realized, the ramifications of defeating the Gatekeeper were far greater than he had imagined. 

A new burden fell on his shoulders.

The title of the strongest Martial Senior in the Kandrian Empire.

This wasn't the first time that he had been acknowledged as the strongest of the Realm. He had experienced just this in the Apprentice and Squire Realms as well, but he didn't expect that he would thrust into the pinnacle this early.

He still felt a nagging sense of unworthiness.

It stemmed from the fact that he needed to activate Angel of Laplace before the battle began and stall while he furiously processed the technique.

This was all fine and well in a duel setting, but the fact of the matter was that most of the battles that Rui fought were not duels; they were genuine life-and-death battles. He would not always get the chance to simply activate Angel of Laplace before the battle began.